REMARKABLE TURN – AT 10:04 A.M. ET:  There has been a remarkable turn in public approval of Congress since the Republicans took over the House.  Andrew Malcolm reports in the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog:

With so much national attention focused on the keen criminology insights of Arizona's Clarence the Talking Sheriff, a stunning new Gallup Poll on Congress almost flew right by.

The new national survey finds that within only five days of Republicans taking majority control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 4, Americans' approval of the bicameral body's job shot up more than 50%, from its record low of 13% to 20%.

The spurt in support came despite the candidly ominous opening speech by the new Speaker John Boehner, "Our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy."

The job approval of Congress has been trending downward for much of the past two years under the large Democratic majorities in both houses and the leaderships of now ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and barely surviving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who lost six of his 10-seat margin in the Nov. 2 midterms.

We concede that 20% isn't very high, but the trend is upward, not downward, as Andrew Malcolm points out. 

Meanwhile, another poll finds that 42% of Americans view the Republicans' congressional agenda as "mainstream," while fully 49% call the Democrats' congressional agenda "extreme." How could that be after increasing the national debt only $54,000 every second?

COMMENT:  Now Republicans must produce, to build that approval rating.  It will take a long time for it to grow, so much damage having been done.  But only Republicans can grow it.  Democrats have stopped trying.

January 12, 2011